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Store cupboard of quotes week 8 – the constitution.

“If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men. If this definition is just, the British constitution is nothing more or less than a republic, in which the king is first magistrate. This office being hereditary, and being possessed of such ample and splendid prerogatives, is no objection to the government’s being a republic, as long as it is bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend.” John Adams.

“…taxation and representation should be co-extensive. Do not women pay taxes? As you might guess this quote comes from a time when women were seeking the vote.” Bertrand Russell

“…she owes her success in practice to her inconsistencies in principle.” Thomas Hardy

“[The British constitution] presumes more boldly than any other the good sense and the good faith of those who work it. ” I think this is Gladstone but I’ve put my notes in a safe place!

“Necessity hath no law.” Oliver Cromwell

“I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England.” Queen Elizabeth I

“A store of traditions and presidents.” Winston Churchill

“I am not a reluctant peer but a persistent commoner” – Tony Benn.

“To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay right or justice” – The Magna Carta.

“We are not interested in the possibility of defeat; they do not exist.” Queen Victoria